just wrapped up its third season with an aimless batch of nonsensical episodes featuring depressingly repetitive trips to nightclubs mixed in with depressingly repetitive relationship drama and depressingly copious alcohol consumption, which is coincidentally the exact plot description of the Italian film classic La Dolce Vita. So you would imagine that the Shore cast would fit right in over in Italy, where the fourth season is set to be shot. But you’d be wrong, dead wrong! As noted by Hollywood Reporter, the Italian media is beginning to sound off negatively about the impending invasion of the Shore tandroids. (Jersey Shore also just started airing over in Italy, which may explain the added ire.)

Roberto Del Bove, columnist for the Roman newspaper New Notzie, said “They embody the worst stereotypes of Italians, multiplied by thousands and Americanized,” and it’s not clear if he means “Americanized” as a positive or a negative, or perhaps “Americanized” is an Italian slang term for “and then multiplied by thousands and thousands more.”

Another Rome newspaper, Corriere della Sera, described the show as “slicked hair, exaggerated narcissism, boundless love for the family and outlandish eccentricity,” which sort of makes Jersey Shore sound like a DreamWorks animated film, which, actually now that I mention it, it kind of is. Back in January, an Italian TV critic told the Wall Street Journal that he was afraid of the cast’s arrival, noting that “The image of Italy abroad is already weakened,” which is a nice way of saying that Italy’s government is currently run by a dude who allegedly enjoys partying with nightclub dancers and making an ungodly amount of money using extremely questionable tactics. Which, again, more or less sums up the cast of Jersey Shore. Maybe Italy is just trying to warn us about a potential dystopian future where reality TV personalities start to take over our government, in which case thanks very much Italy, but your warning has come too late.